Riga, Latvia

#thelazycampers #kellysinestonia #riga #latvia

Distance from Tallinn, Estonia: 315km, 4h30
Transportation from Tallinn: Bus (Ecolines €66 for 2 ppl,return)
Accommodation: The Naughty Squirrel Backpackers (€57 for 2 ppl, 2 night, mix dorm)

City Skyline of Riga's Old Town

Travelling the Baltic States in October/November is not the best time of year: the days are short, the weather is a little frigid and the rain and snow can put a dampener on a day outside, however, we have still managed to have a fantastic stay. To be honest seeing the snow was a bit a of highlight and not so much a downer. We are staying in Tallinn, Estonia for a month and travelling the Baltic area on the weekends. This past weekend we spent two days in Riga, Latvia.

We booked our bus during the week after asking around which bus companies we should use and although Ecolines was not the highest recommended bus it was one of the cheaper ones and perfect of the 4.5 hour drive. We packed our dinner in a backpack, boarded the bus at 5pm and were off.

We arrived in Riga at 9:15pm and made the short walk to our accommodation, The Naughty Squirrel Backpackers. The location of the backpackers is perfect: only a few blocks from the bus station, situated in Riga’s Old Town, close to restaurants and near to the starting point for all the bus and walking tours. The backpackers is quite large with many options for accommodation, we opted for the mixed dorm. The backpackers was very well kept, the staff were very friendly, speak good English and were very knowledgeable about the area. After a quick intro and a shot of traditional black Latvian Balsum we deposited our bags in the dorm and were ready to explore.

The beauty of being in the Baltic is the general safety of the area and being able to walk everywhere, even if you are on your own; so walking around the streets until well after midnight is not uncommon and not unsafe. This is a refreshing situation, especially coming from South Africa where we would never saunter around the streets until all hours of the morning, at least not anyone in their right mind and especially not in small groups or alone.

Even in October Riga is a bustling place. Locals and tourist are jovially roaming the streets moving from pub to pub to club and the restaurants are filled with people enjoying a fine meal and the company of friends. Old Town, Riga, is beautifully lit up and there is a myriad of bars so finding a place for a drink is not difficult. After roaming the streets for about an hour we settled on the Oldest Bar in Riga, AKA, and warmed up inside with some Latvian beer and a glass of red wine. A great start to our weekend.

Due to the limited amount of time we had to see Riga we decided a 2 day pass for the hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus was a no-brainer. Thank goodness we got the bus tickets because it rained the whole day Saturday and so we sat on the bus with our coffee and enjoyed the sights of Riga from our dry seats on the top floor of the bus. This gave us an opportunity learn a little about Riga as well as determine where we would like to get off and explore. After completing the green loop once and the blue loop twice, we decided to brace the rain and get off the bus to soak up the beauty of the architecture of the buildings around us. This is much easier done from the ground than from the bus. Riga has so much to offer, the buildings and monuments are grand and the rich history is so evident in all the buildings and parks - especially in Old Town.

Riga sights

There are many restaurants and bars that come recommended in Riga but it is always such a treat to discover a hidden gem that was not on the suggested list. On our second evening in Riga the rain had stopped and so we took a lovely walk down the streets of Jauniela and Rozena (as recommended online) which are lively streets of quaint little restaurants and we stumbled upon a gorgeous little underground restaurant call Balzambars in Torņa iela. We tried Hot Balzam for the first time which is a very tasty hot red wine with spices and Latvian Balsam, this warmed me very quickly after being out in the cold. We had a delicious meal in a fantastic atmosphere and this was a brilliant end to a rainy day.
On our last day in Riga we happened upon a medieval restaurant, Lasite, where we drank Latvian Cherry and wheat beer out of traditional black ceramic mugs and ate our scrumptious soup out of black ceramic soup bowls. Another gem where the food was great and the atmosphere even better.

4pm Sunday came upon us so quickly and we had to draw ourselves out of the medieval times and back to the 21st Century so that we could catch our bus back to Tallinn. We reluctantly collected our bag from the backpackers and made our way to the bus station, but not to despair, Stockholm and St Petersburg still await.

1. Hot Balsum, 2. Beer in the Medieval restaurant